19 Nov 2018

The leadership of the African Union (AU) has come up with a sanctions regime for non-payment of contributions by member states.

This was said by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi following his attendance of the just ended 11th extraordinary session of the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Speaking in an interview with the Botswana media, he said the sanctions regime would motivate defaulting member states to honour their financial obligations to the organisation.

He expressed delight that Botswana remained a loyal member in good standing having paid all her membership contributions consistently and on time.

“We are a bonafide member of the African Union and have no outstanding balance whatsoever,” he said proudly.

 President Masisi said punitive measures would be taken against any non-compliance by a member within a period of six months instead of two years as was the case in the past.

In some cases, he said, defaulting member states would have to forfeit their right to voice their views on matters under discussion by the AU.

The president disclosed that Botswana was now part and parcel of the African Peer Review Mechanism which he defined as a periodic review among member states guided by agreed parameters for good political, economic and corporate governance.

Other than being reviewed as per the given parameters, fellow African countries stood to learn a great deal from Botswana’s transparent and good governance, he said.

  President Masisi described as a success the two-day summit, which was aimed at advancing institutional reforms.

He said the 2016 decision by African leaders to reform the AU was a clear political will to strengthen the organisation to better serve Africa given the crucial role it was expected to play in driving and achieving Africa’s Agenda 2063 vision of inclusive economic growth and development.

To achieve this and ensure impactful and effective manner in delivering on its mandate, Dr Masisi said the AU needed to reposition itself and ensure it had the requisite institutional capacity and capabilities given the evolving economic, political and social needs of the continent.

The reforms, he said would go a long way in ensuring the AU was lean, agile and fit for purpose, citing the reformation  of the structure and portfolios of the senior leadership of the commission.

He mentioned that it had been decided that the number of commissioners be reduced from 10 to eight and that  the AU Commission would  comprise the chairperson, deputy and six commissioners only.

He hailed as a remarkable achievement the AU’s decision to take on board and utilise the expertise of finance ministers from member states which he said had greatly reduced huge operational costs.

President Masisi commended the AU chairperson Mr Paul Kagame for ably marshalling the organisation’s institutional reforms process, Permanent Representatives Committee for their hard work in conducting the day to day business of the organisation.

He commended Southern African Development Community (SADC) leadership for coming in their numbers to the summit saying it was a sign of excellent political will and a quest to transform the lives of the people of the region and Africa as a whole.

The regional bloc, according to President Masisi, was over the moon that AU had heeded its views on a wide range of issues.

The summit was held under the theme: “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”.  ENDS